Freedom is Not Consent: Dismantling a Culture of Exploitation
Introduction There are certain attitudes in society that are so normalised in private conversations, jokes, and casual remarks that people stop recognising how dangerous they really are. One of the most harmful among them is the tendency to view women - especially those who are alone, independent, emotionally vulnerable, socially marginalised, or outside conventional expectations - through a sexualised and exploitative lens. This is not simply a matter of offensive thinking. It reflects a deeper moral and social problem: the reduction of women’s lives, identities, and circumstances to imagined sexual access. A woman living alone, studying away from home, residing in a large city, recovering from a breakup, rebuilding her life after divorce, or supporting herself financially is often judged not for who she is, but for what some people assume can be taken from her. These assumptions are not accidental. They are rooted in entitlement, prejudice, and the belief that a woman’s vulnera...